How Old is Time
by Kimmu Ikisayomi
Summary: "All my friends at school have a mom and dad. So, why do I only have a mom?" the girl asked. DISCLAIMER: I do not own TMM.


**How Old is Time?**

The tepid winds blew about her red locks, giving her head the appearance of fire. She strolled calmly through the mellow sunshine, that dawned in the park. A small smile was painted to her delicate, red lips.

Suddenly, she felt a small tug on her white, floral sun dress. She looked down at a younger being, who wore a pink sleeveless vest, and a white short sleeved under shirt, which complimented her red shorts and white high topped sneakers. The woman's smile grew.

"Yes?" she answered gently to nine year-old girl, still clutching her dress, who looked straight ahead.

"Can I ask you something?" the girl said.

"Sure. Let's have a seat," the older woman suggested, gesturing to the wooden beach before them.

* * *

They sat next to each other in silence; the woman with her legs crossed, and the girl with slightly parted legs.

"Umm…" the girl finally uttered.

"You can tell me anything, you know," the woman encouraged.

"I know," the girl answered, matter-of-factly. "It's just… All my friends at school have a mom and dad. Even Zuro has a mom and dad, and Auntie is due next week. Her husband is there with her… Why do I only have a mom?" the girl started off in a whiney tone, but it soon dropped to a sad whisper. The woman's smile faltered some.

"Well," the woman started. "You do have a dad. You just don't know him," she tried to explain as simply as possible. But the little girl tilted her head.

"Why don't I know him?"

The woman sighed, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Let me tell you a story, so listen close," she said. The girl, moved by interest, stayed quiet as the woman began,

"Once upon a time in Tokyo, there was a thirteen year-old girl with red hair and big brown eyes, that looked at everything in wonder, because she was in love…

"_Red Data Animals?" he asked her._

"_Y-Yes," she said hesitantly. "I thought that you would probable like it, Aoyama-kun… I-If it's okay with you. Maybe this Sunday we could…" she cut herself off, not sure how to phrase her sentence._

"_Sure," he replied immediately._

"_Heh?" she uttered, surprised that he would accept her gesture. She began to blush at the thought._

"_I'll be waiting for you at 10 at the station," he said running off, as she stood, dumbfounded._

"_ALRIGHT!" she exclaimed, jumping for joy…_

"They rode on the train together, and got to the park, where an exhibition was being held. It was about Red Data Animals, which are rare animals…

"_This is really nice that you invited me to this show," he said to her. "Since I've been wanting to visit for a while."_

"_Oh, that's because I researched everything about you," she rambled._

"_Huh?" He was confused. Realising what she said, she waved her hand._

"_Oh, it's nothing," she gave her excuse_

_**~After Exhibition~**_

"_I've been thinking about it for a while…" Aoyama said when they stopped in the park. "It's something very important to you."_

_She stared at him in awe, wondering if he was thinking what she was thinking. She puckered her lips, and waited…_

"_About protecting nature… I want to discuss it further!"_

_She sweat dropped, and he seemed to notice._

"_Huh? What's wrong?" he asked. She shook her head._

"_Err… nothing. I was just going to get some juice." She began to walk towards the vending machine, but tripped on a branch. The next thing she knew, she was in Aoyama's arms._

"_Are you alright?" he asked._

"_Thank you," was the only thing she could utter, as he placed her on the grass._

"_I'll go buy it," he said and walked off…_

"The girl sat on the grass, waiting for the boy to return, when she saw a cute and pink building. It was called Café Mew Mew. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. There was a bright flash of light, and the girl passed out…

"_An earthquake?!" she panicked. "Aoyama-kun! Aoyama-kun!" she shouted for him. She looked up at the café, seeing the golden cat statue's eye glow, and was enveloped in light._

"_What?... Where… Where am I?" she said to herself. All around her was a green mist-like substance, and bubbles. Soon, a large bubble popped before her, and a black cat emerged. The Iriomote Wildcat._

"_That's the cat Aoyama-kun and I saw," she noticed. As it walked towards her, she picked it up. Suddenly, it jumped into her chest._

"When the girl woke up, it was already late, so she and the boy had to go home. Although, after that day, her life was never the same again."

The girl looked at the woman, fascinated by her story.

"Why was her life never the same?" she asked. The woman smiled and gave a small laugh.

"The next day at school, she was acting differently. She ran a lot faster, she was sleepier, and she ate a lot of fish! But that wasn't all. One day, a strange boy came up to the girl, and told her weird things…

_She was looking at the same pink café, wondering what had happened to her. Why was she acting so strangely? But then, she felt an unfamiliar queasiness. Something was wrong, she thought._

_Racing down the steps just near the café, she entered what looked like a park. Soon, she spotted Aoyama. Delighted by the thought of meeting him again, she navigated her way through the path and finally met him. There was just something off. Something moved in the mist which had settling from the rain. Out of it appeared a mutant rat, and, using its enlarged claws, struck Aoyama down. She was petrified, by the scene that had just taken place. Now, as the rat brought its claws down above her, she felt someone grab her by the waist, and into the trees._

"_Are you alright, Momomiya Ichigo?"_

"The next thing she knew, she was working at Café Mew Mew, and was supposed to fight aliens."

"Aliens?" the girl asked, sweat dropping. The woman looked at her indignantly.

"Just listen," she scolded the girl. "Now, where was I…"

"After she met the boy, she had to find four other girls. And they became her closet friends in the whole world…

"_Mew Mew Mint!"_

"_Mew Mew Lettuce!"_

"_Mew Mew Pudding!"_

"_Mew Mew Zakuro!"_

"_Mew Mew Strawberry!"_

"_-METAMORIPHOSIS!"_

"So now, she was a superlady. But that was her secret life, and she had to hide it from the boy she loved. She hated doing that, though.

"In her secret life, she met another boy, who was one of the aliens attacking Tokyo. He was deeply in love with her, but she rejected him. She thought enemies couldn't fall in love. Besides, she was too infatuated with another boy, who was then her boyfriend…

_She walked down the sidewalk in front of an old bell tower, as she stared at Masha who sat in her hands._

"_There's an alien!" it chirped to her._

"_Huh?"_

"_There's an alien!" it repeated._

"_There, you're saying it again. Didn't you make that mistake yesterday?" she told Masha._

"_There is! There is!" it tried to persuade her._

"_Is this thing broken?" she said, shaking it._

"_There is," a voice said. She looked around, but there was no one in sight. "We just wanted to check out those who will oppose our plans," the voice continued. "But I'm pretty fond of you."_

_She looked up, but was stunned by a kiss._

"_W-Who the heck are you?!" She was so dazed she could hardly form her sentence._

"_My name is Kisshu," the owner of the voice said. "Thanks for the kiss."_

"But, when the final battle between the Mews and aliens came, she saw her boyfriend's true colours…

_Pounding the concrete with her shoes, she ran all across town looking for him, but Aoyama was nowhere to be found. Durng her search for him, multiple Chimeras were released, and she had no choice but to transform and defeat them. Luckily for her, she was able to find Aoyama. But to her dismay, Kisshu and Taruto were there._

"_Don't you dare touch Aoyama-kun!" she barked at them. Kisshu backed away from Aoyama, who was lying on the ground. As she approached him, he began to glow._

"_A-Aoyama-kun?" she asked, stepping closer tentatively._

"_I am known as Deep Blue. And I will became ruler of this planet," he said once the light disapated._

"And the same boy she constantly rejected, gave his life to save her from the one she thought she loved…"

The little girl's eyes widened.

"Did… Did he… die?" she asked reluctantly. The woman only bit her lip, and squeezed her eyes shut and continued.

"As he laid in her arms, near death, she remembered all the times she had encountered him. She realised that, she was constantly conflicted. Always asking herself why she chose her Aoyama over him."

"But," the woman paused, and looked up at the sky. It was clear, with not a single cloud. Completely the opposite of what she remembered happen on that day.

"I don't remember the details," the woman lied, as it was too painful for her to remember, " but the Mews and Aliens defeated Deep Blue by using a magical substance called Mew Aqua. It brought everyone back to life.

"After the final battle, the aliens left the restore their home planet, but came back, and stayed for a few years… Sadly, one of them left. He had to go because it was important. And the girl never saw him again."

The little girl looked at the woman, who had a faraway expression, as she still gazed at the sky. Soon, the woman turned to the girl with a gentle smile on her face, and placed her hand on the girl's cheek. Her brown eyes glistened with oncoming tears.

"You have his eyes," the woman whispered, as the first silver tears streaked across her cheeks. The young girl looked at the woman with curious brass eyes and a cocked red eyebrow.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" she asked, and her mother shook her head.

"It's nothing, dear," she said as she began to stroke her daughter's scarlet hair.

"Excuse me miss, but could you tell me where I would find a Momomiya Ichigo?" a voice asked the woman. Her eyes widened. She looked up to see a tall, well-built young man, with pale skin and green hair. He wore a black suit. But the thing that caught the woman's attention most, were his eyes.

As if they could, her eyes widened even more, and she placed her hands over her mouth to stifle a gasp. Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, and wet her fingers. She tried to speak, but the words were choked down with astonishment. When she did speak, it was barely a whisper.

"Kisshu?"

The man smirked.

Before the woman could close her eyes and lose consciousness, she heard two people scream for her.

"Mom!"

"Ichigo…!"

* * *

When she came to, Ichigo woke up to a white ceiling, and the familiar aroma of cakes and tea. She sat up from the bed she was on, and she looked around the pink room. To her astonishment, all her old friends were there.

Pudding and Taruto stood hand in hand. Zakuro stood close to Ryou, his hand on his son, Zuro's head. Pai had an arm wrapped around Lettuce's shoulder. Mint stood next to her husband, a hand on her enlarged stomach.

And the little girl stood close to Kisshu.

As quickly as she could, Ichigo got off the bed and walked over to a smirking Kisshu. To everyone's surprise, excluding Mint, Ichigo reeled back and slapped Kisshu as hard as she possibly could.

"She's still as feisty as she was when she was thirteen," Mint observed, shaking her head.

"How could you?! How could you just come up to me so casually, after you left thirteen years ago?! Do you even know what happened to me?! I was pregnant! You got me pregnant, and left! For thirteen years!" Ichigo's eyes began to water, and she shut them to stop the flow of tears.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to see you," she cooed, grabbing his collar. She brought him down and planted a long and passionate kiss on his lips. It had been a long thirteen years for her, and she missed him so. How she longed to love him like that again.

Kisshu had felt the same way. A day would not go by without him thinking of his Kitten back on Earth, probably still waiting for him. He, too, longed to hold her and kiss her. Even tease her. But he had no idea she was pregnant.

The little girl walked up to her mother and tugged on her dress.

"Uh, mom? Are you done yet?" she asked, breaking up the couple reunion.

"Aiyana!" Ichigo scolded in an embarrassed voice, her cheeks flaming. Aiyana gave a nervous smile, and shrugged, which made Kisshu chuckle.

"Aiyana," he said softly. "She looks like you," he said to Ichigo.

"Yes, but she acts like you," Ichigo mumbled, her cheeks still red. Kisshu suddenly pulled back, and had a more serious look.

"There's something, I've been dying to ask you," he said, as he reached into his pocket, and kneeled before her. Ichigo gasped and put a hand to her mouth.

"Momomiya Ichigo. Will you marry me?" He smirked some, opening the box to reveal a golden ring, with streak of silver going around it. On top was a large white diamond, carved into the shape of a cat's face. Ichigo squeled as happy tears welled up in her twinkling eyes.

"Yes!" And she leapt at him, planting another kiss.

Zuro walked up to Aiyana, as she watched the scene take place.

"Your parents are so dramatic," he commented, and Aiyana elbowed him in the gut.

"I know," she said coolly, happy to finally meet her father.

**A/N: This is the longest of anything I've ever written. I hope you enjoyed it.**


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